Like any machine, bodies occasionally break down, and it's natural to go in search of a replacement part. Ancient societies featured simple prosthetics for teeth, noses, and limbs, while modern medicine pursues more advanced ways of replacing internal organs and microbiomes. But what is striking is not just the impressive ingenuity of our attempts to replicate human anatomy, but the surprising level of difficulty involved in doing it well. I talk with author Mary Roach about the many ways in which humans have chosen to replace bits of themselves, as told in her recent book&nbsp;<a href="https://www.maryroach.net/replaceable.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy</a>.Blog post with transcript: <a href="https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/09/15/328-mary-roach-on-replacing-parts-of-our-bodies/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/09/15/328-mary-roach-on-replacing-parts-of-our-bodies/</a>Support Mindscape on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Patreon</a>.Mary Roach received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Wesleyan University. Her books include multiple&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;bestsellers and have appeared on numerous best-of lists. She was a guest editor in the&nbsp;Best American Science and Nature Writing&nbsp;series, and received the Rushdie Award from the Harvard Secular Society.<ul><li><a href="https://maryroach.net/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Web site</a></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Roach" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></li><li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/maryroach.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesky</a></li><li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7956.Mary_Roach" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Goodreads profile</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mary-Roach/author/B001H6MAHM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon author page</a></li></ul>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

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328 | Mary Roach on Replacing Parts of Our Bodies

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